Windback Wednesday - Glen Osmond Primary School

Do you know why Glen Osmond Primary School isn't actually in Glen Osmond? The current Glen Osmond Primary School (pictured), which opened on Fisher Street, Myrtle Bank in October 1878 was named after the original Glen Osmond Public School, which was built on Portrush Road in 1858.

Prior to the building of the original school, most children in the area were educated by private tutors, either in their own homes or in the teacher's private residence. At public meeting on 1 November 1856, local residents and parents gathered to protest that these private "schools" were too small and scattered to serve the children of the community. As a result of these complaints, Sir Osmond Gilles donated a plot of land on Portrush Road and residents contributed funds for the construction of a schoolhouse and teacher's residence onsite. The original Glen Osmond School was opened at this location in 1858, under the superintendence of the headteacher Mr G.H.J Tucker, aided by his wife.

Unfortunately the original school was quickly found to have defective foundations. The site was handed to Burnside Council for maintenance and enjoyed around 20 years of use not only as a school, but also as a public hall and the site of various denominations' religious services. Eventually the building had to be demolished in 1877.

A replacement school was built at the Fisher Street site, remaining under the superintendence of Mr Tucker and his wife, now with the assistance from their two daughters Julia and Edith. Even though the new school was in a different suburb and a different council area, and despite numerous calls to change the name over the following decades, it has retained the name Glen Osmond Primary School in celebration of its origins.

Photograph: Glen Osmond Primary School, 1953. Burnside Local History Collection.